


sweet wonderful you

by xxrisque



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/F, Female Combeferre, Female Courfeyrac, Genderfluid Jehan, prying little kiddies, smitten everyone tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-11 12:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2068593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxrisque/pseuds/xxrisque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Miss, are you in love?” The little girl continues, finally settling back in her seat and staring up at her wide-eyed. Combeferre swallows.</p><p>Theoretically, she’d known this was coming. If there’s one thing she’s learnt in her three years of teaching at a primary school, it’s that talking to small, eager children about Valentine’s Day always leads to personal questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweet wonderful you

“Miss Combeferre, Miss Combeferre!”

“What is it, Anastasia?” Combeferre turns away from her whiteboard and surveys her students before her. The girl in question is all but leaping out of her seat, arm so high in the air she looks like she’s about to burst.

“Miss, are you in love?” The little girl continues, finally settling back in her seat and staring up at her wide-eyed. Combeferre swallows.

Theoretically, she’d known this was coming. If there’s one thing she’s learnt in her three years of teaching at a primary school, it’s that talking to small, eager children about Valentine’s Day always leads to personal questions.

“Are you married, miss?” Another child pipes up.

“No, Nathan, I’m not.”

“Have you got a boyfriend, miss?”

“Or a girlfriend, miss?”

“Miss, are you in love?” One of the girls presses, and Combeferre turns away smiles absently to herself, focusing on her whiteboard. Jehan, her teaching assistant, watches from the corner of the room, a small smile on xyr face.

Right on cue, Courfeyrac comes bounding into the room. Today she’s wearing bright red chinos turned up to her shins and a white jumper with elbow patches in the shape of hearts, and Combeferre thinks she looks lovely.

“Good morning, children!” She says brightly, dark curly hair a tousled mop on her head as always. “Good morning, Miss Combeferre.”

“Miss Courfeyrac.” Combeferre replies, ducking her head in a desperate attempt to hide the blush colouring her cheeks. She fiddles with the hem of her sweater vest -cream and blue argyle, as always- and tries not to grin too much when Courfeyrac flashes a radiant smile her way.

“Okay class, I’ll be taking you for music class, then to your lunch break, like I do every Tuesday,” Courfeyrac smiles, wandering up and down the classroom as she speaks, restless and excitable as always. “Then you’ll be back with Miss Combeferre for your afternoon class, and I’ll see you again on Thursday, okay?”

“Yes, Miss Courfeyrac.”

“Okay, excellent,” Courfeyrac beams. “Now form a nice, neat line and follow me. Let’s give Miss Combeferre and Jehan some peace, shall we?”

The class troupe after her as she leads them across the school to the music classrooms. There’s a beat of silence when the door closes after the last child before Jehan speaks.

“You’re so gone for her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Combeferre huffs, dropping heavily into her desk chair and rummaging for her papers.

“Don’t be coy,” Jehan smirks, shifting across the room to collect a pile of spelling tests that need marking. “You know what I mean.”

“So what, I think Courfeyrac’s cute. That’s all it is,” Combeferre grumbles, leaning back in her chair and pulling a book from a desk drawer. “That’s all it will ever be. She’s not interested.”

“You don’t know that,” Jehan hums disapprovingly as xe flicks through the tests. “Ask her for coffee. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“She could be straight. Or not interested in women.”

“Very unlikely, considering I heard her talking about her ex-girlfriend the other day, but I’ll bite. So she’s not interested, so she says no. At least you know.”

“I’d never be able to look her in the face again,” Combeferre turns pink at the thought alone. “I can’t.”

“So you don’t ask her out. So you never know if she’s interested or if she’s not and you spend the rest of your career at this school pining hopelessly over her,” Jehan rolls xyr eyes and goes back to the tests. “Because that’s _much_ better.”

“Shut up,” Combeferre mumbles, trying and failing to absorb herself in her book. “The last time I asked someone out it ended in disaster. I’m not about to try that again.”

“The last time you asked someone out, it was me, and we were still at university,” Jehan replies, shaking xyr head fondly. “And the only reason that didn’t work out was because I’m aro, which you weren’t to know then. Aesthetically speaking, you’re gorgeous. Courf would be lucky to have you.”

Combeferre blushes, hiding her face in her book.

“She could have anyone. You’ve seen her, she’s beautiful,” Combeferre says glumly, finally admitting defeat and closing her book. “Why on earth would she want a ginger primary school teacher who wears sweater vests and pleated skirts and is far too emotionally invested in Marvel comics?”

“Because when you phrase it like that you’re exactly her type?” A voice rises from the doorway. Both of them startle and look up to see Enjolras leaning against the doorframe, his hair pulled up into a messy bun and a red sweater slipping from his shoulders.

“Oh, morning, Enj,” Jehan relaxes almost immediately, a small smile on xyr face.

“What do you mean by that?” Combeferre asks, her voice straining as she leaps to her feet and moves quickly over to the other teacher. Enjolras smiles fondly.

“You’ve seen some of Courf’s exes, haven’t you?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Play along,” Enjolras says, tucking his hands into his pockets. “You have, haven’t you?”

“Her last partner was a model. They split up because Courf wouldn’t travel with to fashion shows, because she wanted to stay here and teach.”

“Correct,” Enjolras says, guiding Combeferre to sit on one of the children’s desks. “Do you know what she looked like?”

“No. She never showed me a photo, so I never asked.”

“Well, she had ginger hair. Dyed, mind you, but still. Big glasses too, but she wore contacts a lot. Secretly a massive fan of sci fi and fantasy. They actually met at a signing at Forbidden Planet.”

“Well, that’s fantastic for them, but I still don’t understand where you’re going with this,” Combeferre pouts, leaning back away from him and frowning. Jehan, on the other side of the room, seems to have caught on and has gotten to xyr feet.

“So you can’t possibly think of anyone else who fits that description?” Xe says with a raise of xyr eyebrows.

“So what, Courf’s ex-girlfriend looked a bit like me. Brilliant. She’s attracted to people who look like me, but not me personally. I feel much better now. Thanks, Enjolras,” Combeferre deadpans, getting to her feet and distracting herself by cleaning her whiteboard.

“Oh my god,” Enjolras groans. “And you guys say I’m slow.”

“You didn’t realise you were flirting with Grantaire until Feuilly pointed it out,” Jehan says with a judgemental look on xyr face. “It was a little embarrassing.”

“Shut up.”

“Ask her for coffee,” Jehan urges. “At the very least, you know she likes nerdy girls with ginger hair and bad eyesight.”

“Because that’s the basis of every good relationship,” Combeferre huffs gruffly. “Alright. Fine. But when she inevitably says no, I get to say I told you so. To both of you. And you’ll be coming with me to the next Marvel premiere in Leicester Square.”

“Deal.”

Enjolras just grins at her.

“It’s almost lunch,” he points out after a moment’s silence. “Coming to the staff room?”

“Yeah, give me a moment,” Combeferre leans over to grab her lunch box and her book before she follows the other two out of the room.

By the time they make it to the staffroom, Courfeyrac is already there, engaged in a loud conversation with Bahorel and Feuilly. Combeferre takes a seat near her and reopens her book, picking at the salad she’d made for her lunch. Enjolras gravitates immediately towards Grantaire and kisses them on the cheek, while Jehan settles down next to Joly and Bossuet and slots xemself into their conversation.

“Ferre!” Courfeyrac says excitedly when she notices the other woman. Combeferre looks up from her book, hurrying to swallow the mouthful of lettuce and tomato in her mouth before Courfeyrac drops into the seat beside her.

“Hey, Courf.”

“Have I told you that your class are my favourite?” She announces conversationally, ripping the sandwich in her hand into bite size pieces.

“More than once, yes,” Combeferre smiles.

“They’re little darlings,” Courfeyrac carries on, popping a piece of her sandwich into mouth. “Very excited today, though.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm,” Courfeyrac hums. “Kept asking me if I was in love, and things like that. Teaching them about St. Valentine, were you?”

“Thought I might as well,” Combeferre shrugs. “It’s the fourteenth next week, and I know Cosette was after having a card exchange.”

“It was rather sweet,” Courfeyrac says distractedly, fiddling with her food. “They kept telling me about it, and about how they’d asked you if you were in love.”

“Did they now?” Combeferre stiffens noticeably.

“Yeah. Said you hadn’t answered.”

“They hardly gave me chance,” Combeferre laughs gently, jabbing half-heartedly at the few leaves left in her bowl.

“They said you went all red and hid your face, though,” Courfeyrac smirks. Combeferre freezes and turns a violent shade of pink and desperately looks away.

“Oh.”

“Kind of like you’re doing now, then,” Courfeyrac smiles at her, sliding a free hand over towards Combeferre’s thigh.

“Maybe a little,” Combeferre admits sheepishly, still refusing to meet Courfeyrac’s eyes.

Courfeyrac takes her hand.

“Would you maybe want to get coffee with me later?” Courfeyrac says quietly, squeezing Combeferre’s hand. “Oh have I been reading this wrong?”

“But –but I’m hopelessly boring!” Combeferre protests weakly. “You’ve dated models and photographers and artists and I’m –I’m just a teacher from Kent!”

“I think you’re perfectly lovely,” Courfeyrac scoffs, bringing her hand up to her lips to press a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. Combeferre blushes impossibly darker and turns to Courfeyrac with a tight-lipped smile on her face.

“This is a dream,” Combeferre says airily, chancing a look sideways at the other woman. Courfeyrac flashes a grin at her.

“So that’s a yes?”

Combeferre nods eagerly, looking away when she feels Courfeyrac’s eyes on her.

Courfeyrac smiles fondly at her, and slides a hand up to cup her cheek. Combeferre startles momentarily, but allows herself a tiny smile, even as Courfeyrac leans in to kiss her.

**Author's Note:**

> happy courferre week, folks! this is technically my piece for day three even though it's only 1am. ssshhh.
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr](http://badlydressedbahorel.tumblr.com/)!


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